


Cause It’s You (That I’m Running To)

by lululawrence



Series: Meet Cute Ficlets [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Even More Fluff, M/M, as i'm sure you expected by now, walk of shame ficlet, what can i say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-23 10:36:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3764983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry did not have the best of nights last night, and this morning doesn't seem to be improving much.  Until it does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cause It’s You (That I’m Running To)

**Author's Note:**

> Click [here](http://wekissedaccidentally.tumblr.com/awcollab) to get to the collaboration page!
> 
> This is part of a tumblr run fic exchange and this ficlet is to fulfill the prompt of "Walk of Shame". I hope you enjoy the ridiculous amounts of fluff!
> 
> Massive thanks to [Shar](http://tommosgun.tumblr.com) for being a wonderful Brit pick and [Laura](http://ostricacida.tumblr.com), [Brandi](http://littlescumbags.tumblr.com), and [Jamie](http://breathing--for-this-moment.tumblr.com) for betaing for me! With that in mind, all remaining errors are my own.
> 
> This is obviously a work of fiction, it is not real, the portrayals of the boys and others related to them are not going to be true since I've never met them and I'm just doing this for fun so please don't post the work on another site, blah blah blah. 
> 
> The title comes from Home by Josh Kelley.

Harry slowly blinked awake in the dusky light making its way through the curtains of an unfamiliar bedroom. He scrubbed his face and found he was still in bed with Mark...or was it Matt?...from the club last night. 

Oh. Right. 

He eased out of bed so as not to wake Mark/Matt, but still had to stabilize himself on the dresser while he put his right hand up to his pounding head. Harry bent over slightly and squeezed his eyes shut in the hopes of at least reducing the dizzying effect the alcohol had left behind. Ugh. He's never allowing Niall to choose the drinks ever again. 

He gathered his clothes from around the room and quietly made his way to the bathroom. After a much needed piss, a quick rinse of his face and mouth, and pulling on last night's clothes as best as possible, Harry double checked that he had his wallet, keys, and phone before sneaking out of the flat. 

He made his way down to the lift he didn't even remember taking last night and punched the button. Huh, there was only one button, he must be on the top floor. 

Harry closed his eyes and rubbed at his tender head as he leaned against the wall and waited only somewhat patiently for the lift to arrive. God, he just really needed to get home, drink his weight in water, take about a million paracetamols, and sleep until next month. 

Going out to pull had seemed like such a great idea yesterday, but now he was reminded why he tried to avoid these kinds of trysts if possible. Michael...wait, maybe Michael was his name?...anyway, he had been less than stellar in bed, finding his release seemingly within seconds of starting and not even helping Harry reach climax, leaving him to help himself and wasn't that the entire point of going home with someone? To avoid what he could have done while watching sub par porn in his own room at home?

Jesus, how long was the lift going to take to get here? Harry really didn't remember this place being a high rise or anything and for this time of day it couldn't be due to high traffic. He punched the button a few more times before turning and leaning his forehead against the wall. What a shit night. 

"Uh, if you're waiting for the lift, you'll be here awhile," Harry heard a tenor say from behind him. He turned his head enough to peek out his right eye and found a smaller man wearing what was also obviously last night's wrinkled clothing and a mad case of bed head watching him with amusement. "I'm afraid I noticed on the way in that it's out of order. Not sure why there's nothing marking it up here."

Harry groaned before pushing himself away from the wall. He cleared his throat before rasping sleepily, "Good to know. Was wondering why it was taking so long."

"Hmm," the other man hummed with amusement in his, admittedly gorgeous, blue eyes. He waved towards the stairs in a manner that indicated Harry could go first before asking, "Bit of a rough night?"

Harry chuckled lightly. "Not one of my best, no. What gave it away?"

"Well the fact you were waiting for a lift that wasn't working when you got here last night was one indicator. You also seemed to have spilled some on your shirt sometime during the night."

Harry paused his slow descent to inspect his shirt. The tiny man was right. He had what was likely dried beer spilled all down the right side of his shirt. What with his sexual misfortunes, he had forgotten about that one. 

"Bollocks, this is one of my favorites, too. I'll have to rinse it soon as I'm home," he muttered. 

"Don't worry. Not sure mine was much better," the other man cheerfully replied. "My lad had a bit of a problem keeping it going, and that was definitely not my fault, if you know what I mean."

Harry snorted before taking in the curves sheathed in skin tight jeans, or maybe jeggings, and the rumpled but still good looking red shirt whose scoop neck revealed some of the most delectable collarbones Harry had ever seen. "I believe it," he agreed before realizing he had spoken. God, maybe he was still a bit drunk. 

Luckily the other guy laughed in response, so he obviously wasn't bothered. "I'm afraid he was a bit embarrassed so he made up for it in other ways, but still leaves a bit to be desired as I'm sure you understand."

Harry chuckled a bit himself before groaning a bit more and grabbing his head. "Fuck, I am never drinking again."

"Oh, I don't think you need to go quite that extreme, you just need the right remedy and company is all. You obviously didn't choose well last night."

"So are you offering to be the remedy this morning?" Harry quipped as he stepped out onto the street, attempting to figure out where exactly he was so he could figure out where a cab might be easily found. 

"Maybe," the stranger replied. 

Harry turned and found that the dim morning light had cast his companion with a golden glow and lit his disheveled hair in a way that made him particularly stunning. Harry didn't usually find men with scruffy beards attractive, he generally went for the clean shaven type, but this guy could definitely pull it off. After the caramel skinned wonder shivered a bit from his lack of layers, he nodded his head to Harry's right. 

"Listen, mine isn't too far from here and there's a greasy cafe right around the corner from me. Martha's tea and full fry up can fix any leftover ills from your decisions last night that my company cannot take care of. Interested?"

Harry only took a moment to consider before starting to walk in the direction indicated. "Only if some paracetamol is part of the deal."

"Course," the other man agreed. "My name's Louis, by the way."

"'M Harry," he introduced. "How are you so cheerful after your night?"

"Well, Harold, I might have lost on the lottery when it comes to who I left the club with, but I'm already thinking I won when it comes to the morning after."

Harry arched his brow and glanced at Louis from the corner of his eye. "Is that so?" Louis just smiled in return. "And my name is just Harry, not Harold."

"Sure, Harold. Whatever you say."

Harry just shook his head slightly before holding it again. "I really need to stop doing that," he whined and then he caught a whiff of his shirt which caused him to gag almost immediately. "Oh my God, how did I not realize I smell like the entire bar got dumped on me?" 

He pulled the shirt away from his chest. It was barely buttoned, as he usually wore it, but he now felt disgusted over the idea of wearing it for any longer than he had to. He could also use a shower. But that fry up sounded glorious too. He was trying to get his pounding head to find a solution to all these things when Louis spoke up beside him. 

"What about this. I can't make a great fry up, but I can do a basic. We go back to mine, you can clean up and borrow some of my clothes while yours wash, and whilst you're getting presentable, I can make us brekkie." 

Louis looked up at him with an almost hopeful gleam in his eyes, but Harry was floored. Why would he offer up his place to a perfect stranger? They'd both had fairly awful nights and now he was offering to take care of Harry in a way his last boyfriend wasn't even willing to do. What was in it for him?

"I don't understand," he said slowly. Harry had no desire to offend his new and very attractive acquaintance, but he needed this answered. "You don't even know me, but you're willing to do all of this for me? Why? Most wouldn't have even pointed me in the right direction for the tube or a taxi."

Louis shrugged. "I guess..." He faded off as he sighed and seemed to think a bit longer about his answer. "I grew up as part of a large family in a fairly small town. I was always surrounded by people who loved me or at the very least cared that I was taken care of, even if I was a little shit. I moved down to London last year and I was so excited. Finally, I get to live my dream!" He threw his arms out with a look on his face that Harry could already tell meant he wasn't exactly living what he thought his dream would entail. "I'm quite lucky, really. I have a steady job that I truly enjoy and my flatmates are the best. I've just had a hard time finding anyone I seem to really get on with..."

Louis remained quiet at this point and when Harry looked over at his face, he saw hesitation. Considering he had only known him for about 20 minutes and he could already read Louis' facial expressions, Harry thought he knew what he meant. 

"And you think we do," Harry finished for him. 

Louis let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah. Is that crazy? I only just met you, but I already feel so comfortable with you."

Harry smiled. Thinking back, he hadn't felt the least bit uncomfortable with Louis from the moment he first spoke. Harry hadn't needed a second to consider having an impromptu meal with him and the only reason he was thinking twice about going back to his was because he was offering his flat, clothes, washing machine, and food as if it was nothing. Still standing where they had stopped a few minutes before, Harry studied Louis' eyes to see if he could find any kind of regret for making the offer or perhaps anything that should cause Harry to decline. 

All he found was sincerity and perhaps a touch of loneliness. Harry knew that well enough to want to help this beautiful boy avoid it as much as he could. 

"Okay," he agreed. 

Louis' entire face lit up at his acceptance. "Okay."

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me on tumblr and let me know what you think! I'm [lululawrence](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com).
> 
> The tumblr post for this ficlet is [here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/116659906883/cause-its-you-that-im-running-to-1741-words)


End file.
